Problems rendering in 32 bpp...

D

Dave Draper

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I'm currently working on a different machine to the one I usually use, and every time I try and render a MOV, using the Sorenson 3 Pro codec (the only codec I know that allows me to render in 32 bpp), the rendered video ends up looking like 24 bpp, even though I have the Compressed Depth set to "32 bpp color"... Any ideas why? Pixel-Format is set to "32-bit floating point" and Compositing Gamma to "2.222 (Video)" in my Project Properties... So what's the deal?

DD.
 
Just a thought, but could it have something to do with working with XP, as opposed to Vista? All previous editing work was done on Vista Ultimate.

DD.
 
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Have you considered that it might be looking different just because you are using a different monitor with a different gamma? It happens. Remember the lawsuit against Apple when they released million color monitors for iMacs, but they weren't really million color panels. If Apple is playing such games, don't count on a random monitor to be truly deep color.
 
Eugenia Loli-Queru said:
Have you considered that it might be looking different just because you are using a different monitor with a different gamma? It happens. Remember the lawsuit against Apple when they released million color monitors for iMacs, but they weren't really million color panels. If Apple is playing such games, don't count on a random monitor to be truly deep color.
Click to expand...

The thing is, it looks how I want it to look in the preview screen of Vegas, and the same when rendering out an uncompressed version, so I know it's capable of looking the way I want it to. But as soon as I apply ANY sort of compression to it, it looses that "deep" 32bpp colour. I have tried rendering it in many formats, and have used three different programs to do so; Vegas, Quicktime Pro and Sorenson Squeeze, but all of the renders look like they're in 24bpp.

If I render a video in 32bpp on my XPS laptop (currently being repaired), it looks how it should - Rich and deep.

DD.
 
Oh, is that what you mean? That the lossy versions don't look right? Well that's normal and to be expected! It's almost impossible to get it right from the get go, you might have to even over-saturate to get a better look. Also take a look at ANY of Apple's movie trailers: they are washed out too, because of the h.264 compression. You will have to learn to live with it. Lossy codecs are not as accurate as lossless ones, PLUS the different gammas they use and the gammas media players use too! It's a lot to take into account.

Funnily, I closed a similar thread about this problem just 4 minutes ago! Small world, and obviously, a very common problem! http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=12672
 
Eugenia Loli-Queru said:
Oh, is that what you mean? That the lossy versions don't look right? Well that's normal and to be expected!
Click to expand...

I only have this problem on the current PC I'm working on. Videos rendered in 32bpp on my XPS laptop will look how I want them to, even when moved over to this machine.

Videos rendered on this machine, whether in 32bpp or 24bpp, both look like 24bpp, regardless.

DD.
 
If you are using the same software on both PCs, there should be no visible difference whatsoever. Except if the software you are using (Vegas? the codec itself?) is using your monitor's gamma information to encode each time. In which case, call Vegas support to ask them how to disable this -- if possible.
 
OK, I think I've found a *partial* fix for this problem...

* Open up the file in QuickTime Pro
* Go to Window -> Show Movie Properties
* Highlight "Video Track"
* Click on the "Visual Settings" tab
* Click on the "Transparency" drop-down menu
* Select "Blend" from the menu
* Move the "Transparency Level" slider to 100%
* Choose "Straight Alpha" from the same drop-down menu
* Close "Properties"
* Go to File -> Save
* FIN!

The blacks now look black as opposed to grey, but the colours still look a little washed out...

Not perfect, but looks a lot better.

DD.
 
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